I haven’t done a fun sunday post for a while so I’d thought I’d pick my all time favourite tv shows –

Around the world in eighty days with Michael Palin. I have loved all his shows but this the original one the first based on the Jules Verne book open my eyes to places around the world as a young lad but also was part of the reason for this blog to travel the world in books.

ER I’ve been rewatching this recently and forgot how good it was there is a lot of talk about modern shows being great but this for me when it came out made our UK show casualty seem plain and wooden this was fast paced and had a number of stories each episode and a character development over the years as the team grew.

Babylon 5 I was always a tv sci-fi fan when younger but not so much these days but the one show I have watched through a few times is this it was such a clever series with the story developing over the five series as we saw good versus evil and theories of the way we should live order versus chaos. It had great special effects for the day.

X files I have the complete series it had it all two partners that love and hate each at the start but grow closer. There is everything from creature feature to aliens to ancient creatures and Indian myths.I’ve not loved the new ones so much as they seem to be trying to hard to capture what made it great.

Homicide life on the streets – Before the wire this was set in the same city and had the same gritty feel as the wire but a number of great stand out characters especially detective Munch who has turned up in many a series since.

P’tit Quinquin a short french tv series by the french film director Bruno Dumont a body has turned up in a small seaside town we have a quirky detective and a small boy in an odd drama that goes nowhere but is engrossing.

Brideshead revisited I loved this as a kid even more as an adult we don’t see enough Waugh. This just oozed quality and had so many great scenes I loved visit castle Howard a few years ago it reminded me of the scenes set there. I could mention Holmes with Jeremy brett another series from the eighties I loved.

Twin Peaks The first two series I have watched not the recent one yet but this had it all the quirkiest director of his age let loose on tv was a rare event and hasn’t happened much since. A feast of oddball characters cracking quotable lines like its damm fine cherry pie etc etc

American horror story – for me no modern series is as good as this the clever twist of using the same actors, on the whole, each series but in different roles and scenarios has worked every from witchcraft to sideshows clown and even tv and how we view ghost stories in a clever series that had a real and staged version of a story that was supposed to have happened. The last tackled Cults can’t wait for the next as it is always interesting.

Stranger things – I have Netflix but in whole streaming hasn’t made to many great series that have grabbed me this one did it has so many nods to classic 80’s films by the likes of Speilberg and writers like Stephen King the only other Netflix series I have like is the crown.

Honorable mentions – Juliet bravo 80s small-town crime nothing much happens but is a window on how the police used to be before PACE.

The Bill the first few series same as above before we need murders and gangsters to keep us viewing

Wild Palms underrated Oliver Stone about a tv show and two groups wanting to shape the future of the world!!